Family Compact

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This article is about a group in nineteenth century Canadian history. For the pact between the royal families of eighteenth century France and Spain, see Pacte de Famille.

The Family Compact was the informal name for the wealthy, Anglican, conservative elite of Upper Canada in the early 19th century. It was one of a number of Tory-dominated Compact governments that ruled the colonies of British North America.

The Family Compact developed after the War of 1812 and lasted (at least) until Upper and Lower Canada were united in 1841. In Lower Canada, its equivalent was the Château Clique. The influence of the Family Compact on the government administration at different levels lasted to the 1880s. Canadian Members of the Family Compact were described as adherents of "rabid Toryism" by Charles Dickens during his visit to North America. Some of the members were of dubious reputation, even in the eyes of their own circle.

The Family Compact controlled the government through the Executive Council, the advisors to the Lieutenant Governor, leaving the popularly elected Legislative Assembly with little real power. Members of the Family Compact ensured their conservative friends held the important positions in the colony through political patronage.

The Family Compact was centred in Toronto, then called York. Its most important member was Bishop John Strachan; in fact, many of the other members were his former students, or people who were in some way related to him. The most prominent of Strachan's pupils was Sir John Beverley Robinson who was from 1829 the Chief Justice of Upper Canada for 34 years. The rest of the members were mostly descendants of United Empire Loyalists or recent upper-class British settlers. With this Loyalist background and under the leadership of Strachan, they were strong royalists, and supported the Church of England over not only Catholicism but other Protestant churches. They especially interpreted the Constitutional Act of 1791, which gave land grants to build Protestant churches, to refer to Anglican churches alone. They were able to act on this interpretation through the creation of the Clergy Corporation which oversaw the management of the reserves. This was opposed by the large numbers of Presbyterian Scottish settlers, as well as smaller groups of Methodists.

The influence of the Family Compact was one of the chief concerns of all liberal-minded citizens of Upper Canada. The radical reformer William Lyon Mackenzie was, in particular, a most vocal advocate against the Family Compact. Mackenzie's frustration with their control of the government was one of the catalysts for the failed Upper Canada Rebellion of 1837. Their hold on the government was reduced with the creation of the united Province of Canada and later the installation of the system of Responsible Government in Canada.